The views of corporate managers on the current state of, and future prospects for, social reporting in Bangladesh: an engagement based study

Purpose – This paper seeks to respond to recent calls for more engagement-based studies of corporate social reporting (CSR) practice by examining the views of corporate managers on the current state of, and future prospects for, social reporting in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a series of interviews with senior managers from 23 Bangladeshi companies representing the multinational, domestic private and public sectors. Findings – Key findings are that the main motivation behind current reporting practice lies in a desire on the part of corporate management to manage powerful stakeholder groups, whilst perceived pressure from external forces, notably parent companies' instructions and demands from international buyers, is driving the process forward. In the latter context it appears that adoption of international social accounting standards and codes is likely to become more prevalent in the future. Reservations are expressed as to whether such a passive compliance strategy is likely to achieve much in the way of real changes in corporate behaviour, particularly when Western developed standards and codes are imposed without consideration of local cultural, economic and social factors. Indeed, such imposition could be regarded as little more than an example of the erection of non-tariff trade barriers rather than representing any meaningful move towards empowering indigenous stakeholder groups. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on CSR in developing countries where there is a distinct lack of engagement-based published studies.

A study of the impact of lean on UK manufacturing organisations that view it as a philosophy

There were three principal research aims: primarily, Lean is and always should be regarded as a business model as depicted by Toyota who is dedicated towards finding better ways of producing cars; consequently an investigation of whether organisations embracing Lean as a philosophy were indeed more triumphant. An adapted balanced scorecard was used which embraced strategic, operation and indices focused towards the future prospects of an organisation. Secondly, it was obligatory to explicitly and precisely determine whether an organisation espoused Lean as a philosophy as opposed to another process or strategy. Thirdly, since Lean has to be envisaged as a never-ending journey; it was important to map out the Lean journey and to be able to categorize the juncture an organisation occupies at any particular phase of its overall implementation. This affords an opportunity to advise an organisation of specific requirements it needs to satisfy should it wish to embrace Lean as a philosophy. The methodological approach focused on the effective deployment of survey questionnaires in sixty-eight organisations and seven extensive case studies in manufacturing organisations of varying sizes. The CIMA organisational classification, the Puttick grid and the Product-Process matrix were used to analyse the range of organisations used in this investigation. Whilst there was a requirement to investigate whether Lean indeed equates to success, pertinent performance measurement was considered decisive; the DMP Model (Maltz et al., 2003) was modified to perform this role. An unremitting theme both in literature concerning the implementation of Lean and in the research evolves around the notion of corporate cultures. Its relevance is explored further within the analysis. In accepting the premise that Lean incorporates a journey, it was fundamental to identify the voyage. Prevalent frameworks are deficient in identifying the sustainability and ideological facets of Lean. Consequently, an extensive Lean audit was developed and piloted in twenty disparate organisations.

The rise and fall of stand-alone social reporting in a multinational subsidiary in Bangladesh:a case study

Purpose -The main aim of this paper is to examine the underlying drivers for the development and subsequent discontinuation of stand-alone corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in a multinational subsidiary in Bangladesh. Design/Methodology/Approach - The research approach employed for this purpose is a case study using evidence from a series of in depth interviews conducted during the period 2002-2010. Interview data is supplemented by examining other sources of information including annual reports, stand-alone social reports and relevant newspaper articles during the study period. Findings - It appears that the stand-alone CSR reporting process was initiated to give the subsidiary a formal space in which to legitimise its activities in Bangladesh where both tobacco control regulation and a strong anti-tobacco movement were gaining momentum. At the start of the process in 2002 corporate interviewees were very receptive of this initiative and strongly believed that it would not be a one off exercise. However, in the face of subsequent significant national policy shifts concerning tobacco control, irreconcilable stakeholder demands and increasing criticism of the CSR activities of the organisation at home and abroad the process was brought to an abrupt end in 2009. Research Limitations/Implications - The paper has a number of implications for policy makers concerning the future prospects for stand-alone social/sustainability reporting as a means of enhancing organisational transparency and accountability. In addition the paper discusses a number of theoretical implications for the development of legitimacy theory. Originality/value - Using the lens of legitimacy the paper theorises the circumstances leading to the initiation and subsequent cessation of CSR reporting in the organisation concerned. As far as we know this is the first study which theorises and provides significant fieldwork based empirical evidence regarding the discontinuation of stand-alone social reporting by a multinational company operating in a developing country. Thus, it extends previous desk-based attempts at using legitimacy theory to explain a decrease (or discontinuity) in CSR disclosures by de Villiers and van Staden (2006) and Tilling and Tilt (2010).

Prospects for inserting parametric amplifiers in optical communication networks

We investigate to what extent the unique features of OPAs (large bandwidths, 0 dB noise figure, phase conjugation, signal regeneration) can be combined and exploited in future long-haul communication networks. Network PMD can complicate the use of phase-sensitive amplification.